The Drink

Natural Merchants Organic Wines

The Price

$15 for VERTVS Tempranillo Crianza 2003
$13 for Agrinatura Puglia Chardonnay

The Score

for VERTVS Tempranillo Crianza

for Agrinatura Puglia Chardonnay

E-mail this to a friend  »

The Taste

Everyone likes the idea of organic wines: Eliminating synthetic or chemically altered pesticides and fertilizers is good for the environment and the human body. But there's some confusion about what "organic" means and who really subscribes to it. Plus, many critics now suggest that local, sustainable products are more important than organically certified ones. Here are some things we do know: It's really time-consuming and expensive to get government agencies to inspect wine and authorize "organic" labels. As a result, many winemakers simply don't advertise that they're organic even when they are. The ones that do display certification (usually phrased as "made with organic grapes") should be lauded; they've taken great pains to make that grape juice au naturel.

Natural Merchants (www.naturalmerchants.com) offers two new organic wines that are amazingly affordable. The $15 VERTVS Tempranillo Crianza 2003 comes from an elite Spanish winery, Bodegas Iranzo, that uses vineyards dating back to 1355 -- old vines that certainly remember the days when everything was organic. Though aged in oak for six months, the flavors that shine through are more vegetal and earthy than fruity or woodsy. You may taste some cherry (perhaps even shades of Jolly Rancher candy), but the tannins are overwhelming. Mint and leather pervade the finish. The wine from these old vines could probably use a little more time in the barrels.

From another winery in another country comes the $13 Agrinatura Puglia Chardonnay -- 100 percent Italian chardonnay. The smell is enticing; one imagines citrus and melon, lime and honeydew. But the flavor goes a different route: There's a sweetness and none of the vanilla or cream or oak you might associate with other chards because this stuff's been aged in stainless steel tanks. The finish shows a healthy acidity -- great with food, a little harsh without.

Are these noble wines? Yes. Tasty? Sure. Worth the money? Absolutely. Proof positive that everything organic is better? Not really.

-- James Oliver Cury